A tale of ice and iron
by konnokyo
Summary: It's been some months after the events of the Avengers. Tony and Bruce worked night and day on their newest invention, a device which would enable portable teleportation. Both men made wrong equations, making Tony land in an unknown land covered in nothing but ice and snow. Rescued by a stranger, which soon turned out to be Loki, they now have to get along to survive.


AN: Hello folks!  
I was planing this little fic for quite some time now. It started out as an RP between me and a friends, that's why there will be different POVs in here. There will be small chapters, each with either Tony's or Loki's point of view. But I try to get them out fast, because, yeah, they are short.

-

When Tony woke this morning, he knew something was off. It wasn't because of his headache from last night's extensive drinken with some pretty Russian models, no, it was more like the strange feeling deep in his guts that something would happen today, may it be good or bad. But the agnostic person he was, he discarded the foreboding feeling and stopped paying any mind to things not work related. Still, the moment Tony entered the work room and caught sight of their newest invention, he couldn't help but think that something was wrong, he just couldn't point his finger on it. They have been working on this machine for almost half a year now, and today should be the day: The first field test. They would discover first hand whether the transportation via molecular splitting was possible or not. It was a bold attempt, they both knew. No one had ever seriously tried teleportation, but Tony was sure that it would be either them getting the equations right, or that no one at all would do it.

"Something's funny…" The engineer mumbled, more to himself, when he stepped through the security door of their joined laboratories.

Doctor Banner couldn't refrain from answering with an arched brow when he saw the man scuffling over.

"I'd say that's your boozy breath." Tony only huffed at the remark, a slight grin on his face. "You're late. Again." Bruce added after a few more appraising glances.

"I need my beauty-sleep. Let's get that baby working." Was all the other man offered before he clapped into his hands and winced a little at the loud sound it made. Grimacing, he took a small device from one of the workbenches and scrolled through the opened source code.

"I've already done some new calculations on the movement of the atoms, so…" Bruce began, but Tony waved him off.

"Making assurance double sure, you know?" Tony said, making Bruce roll his eyes.

Making sure their equations were right was critical, though, he had to admit, with that much alcohol in his system and the sleep deprivation caused by the reoccurring nightmares, calculating was a pain in the ass. Tony sighed under his breath as he scrolled down a few pages, without really registering the numbers on the screen. Usually he was painfully accurate with something this important, especially something that could catapult them all into a thriving future.

Or another world war. Tony thought darkly. They really had to make sure that the machine would stay in their hands, which would prove difficult once SHIELD would get wind of this. Since the appearance of gods and other aliens that could travel through the galaxy in a blink of an eye, or realms, as they called it, SHIELD had made it clear that they wouldn't fall by the wayside. Too bad that Fury had no clue about their baby.

Anyway, today was not the day to distrust Bruce's calculations, the man had his way with numbers. Flexing his neck, Tony put the device down again.

"Looks good, doc." He said and walked over to the teleportation machine he fondly called the Fury..

The big, metallic thing looked rather grim, with all its cables that stuck out at every possible angle. It was connected to its own arc reactor, one as big as a car, which was supposed to power it. In front of the machine were two giant metal arms, holding a frame up. Tony had made sure that it resembled the Stargate. No galactic transportation without Wright's design.

"Jarvis, transfer Dr. Banner's calculations to "The Fury" and start the engine."

"Yes, Sir. Starting the upload." The A.I. replied in its charismatic British accent. "Though I would suggest you taking cover behind the designated protective screen, the resulting energy overload could cause severe injuries."

Tony completely ignored the A.I.'s warning, had to see it up close, while Bruce looked uneasy and stepped back, now standing behind the see-through safety wall.

"Maybe we should do a few more tests…" He started to say, but Tony interrupted him mid sentence.

"Enough with the tests. We've been doing this for months and all I want to know is if we aren't completely wasting out time. It's not that I'm all Dora the explorer and want to step through a non-stable portal." He huffed.

"Process at 50 percent." Jarvis interjected, which caused Bruce to visibly flinch.

"Get behind the safety wall. You're making me nervous standing so close to that damn thing!" His friend now yelled, trying to overtone the noise their machine was making. Sparks of electricity flew through the air, making Tony's hair stand on edge.

"Process at 80 percent." The A.I.'s voice sounded with a crackle, as if the signal was jammed by the pure energy that was coming from the reactor.

"Tony!"

"Okay, okay! Don't get your panties in a twist and Hulk-out on me now." Tony cracked a smile and took a step towards the safety wall.

"Pro...ce...sss at 95…per-" The cut-off sentence alarmed the engineer and made him raise his gaze to the ceiling.

"Jarvis? What's wro-" But before he could finish his sentence, a loud crash erupted behind him, the resulting compression wave threw him to the ground. The moment he wanted to stand up, a massive force pulled him backwards, right to the spot where an angry glowing gap had opened up in mid air. It worked. That had to be a-

"Jarvis, stop the engine!" The doctor screamed behind him, but the A.I. seemed to be off function and didn't respond. He himself had to cling to the wall, the strong wind tearing at his clothes, while all Tony could do was desperately clawing at the floor. There was nothing to hold on to, nothing that could get him out of this.

"Fuck!" Tony cursed, his eyes scanning the room for anything at all, but in the next moment, another loud crash resonated through the room and pulled him harder towards the portal. Tony squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what this machine could do to his molecules; his whole body felt like lead, even though the seemed to float. There was just one thought in his mind as the horror struck him.

 _I should have read those fucking numbers!_

But not even a second later all thoughts were erased from his brain as his body connected hard with a cold surface. Drops of water dripped onto his face- No, this was no rain. Tony groaned in pain, his head spinning as he tried to move his limbs. He was alive. Hurt all over, but he had survived. The Engineer let out a small hysterical giggle and wanted to say something to Bruce, but when he finally opened his eyes, his heart stopped for a moment. Tony could only stare into the blue when he comprehended that he wasn't in his lab anymore.

"...Snow?" He mumbled to himself and heaved himself up the ground, unbelieving brown eyes scanning his surroundings. This couldn't be. Was he dreaming? Hallucinating maybe? Did he hit his head and imagined this right now? The unbearable cold that made his limbs and mind number with each passing second suggested otherwise. his light clothes, a shirt, a dark pair of jeans and his sneakers didn't serve as suitable protection at all and he knew that if he wouldn't find some sort of shelter soon, he would freeze to death. But the white landscape and the falling snow wouldn't let him see farther than a few feet at max. Tony stumbled through the cold mass, his feet and legs getting soaked as he got more desperate with every step.

 _Where the hell am I?!_ Tony thought as he fought his way through the storm.

The blazing wind grew stronger and Tony was almost knocked off his feet a few times. He couldn't feel his fingers and toes anymore, his body growing weaker the longer he walked on, still he couldn't stay here, needed a place to hide from the cold. How he should make a fire in such a place was another question he couldn't answer. If there was any kind of vegetation, he couldn't see it. After what seemed like an eternity he could make out some hazy objects. His spirit lifted a bit and he tried to pick up his speed, hoping to find something that could shield him from the cold wind. The light jog tired him, but right now he couldn't really care less. As he came closer, he identified these objects as some gnarly, frozen trees and a few scattered rocks. His heart dropped, still there was a slight smile on his lips. Well, at least there would be something to burn, not that he had anything to light it with. This had probably been his only chance. Starting to shiver uncontrollably, Tony walked to the largest rock and slid down on it, his ragged breath forming steamy clouds in front of his face. This was his end then, pretty unspectacular in his opinion. Drawing his legs to his chest, he tried to cover as much of his chilled boy, the smile on his face bitter. The engineer had a tough attitude, his feelings carefully hidden behind his sarcastic demeanor most of the time, but as he felt the strength leaving his body, he couldn't help but feel fear dwelling in his guts. He wanted to think about nice things, happy memories, trying to make this easier on him, but his mind grew so numb that he couldn't even form a clear thought anymore. It only took about a minute or two more until everything turned dark around him.

Tony groaned in pain when he felt the heat spreading through his half frozen body. His head spun as he tried to lift it, so he decided to stay on the cozy fur underneath him.

 _Wait a minute…_ Tony thought. _Fur?_

His eyes shot open and when they finally adjusted enough to the blinding light in front of him, he couldn't believe what he saw. This had to be a cave of some sorts. Someone was living here. A big fire was lit, illuminating what seemed like a fur covered sleeping-place. A kettle hung over the hearth, a nice smell waving from its content. His stomach instantly reacted, growling loudly, reminding him how hungry he was. How long had he been asleep? A few minutes passed by until Tony could muster the last bit of strength and brought himself up into a sitting position. His hands pushed the covers down to his waist and he noticed that they were seamed with patterns and symbols he had never seen before. Once more the engineer wondered where exactly he had landed. Some foreign country? On the mount Everest somewhere? The only thing he knew was that the one who lived here and had rescued him had also removed his wet clothes while he had been unconscious, since he was now butt naked.

 _I need to thank that person, like big time…_

Brown eyes looked down his chest to inspect his arc reactor then and he was happy to see that the device was still intact as he took it out to check on the cables. The pale blue light always calmed his nerves down. Just as he pushed the reactor back into the socket, he heard a heavy sigh coming from behind them. Tony whipped around, startled by the sudden noise. His gaze fell to the back of the cave, where the light wouldn't reach. He felt uneasy when a tall figure stepped out of the shadows, his face hidden by a large hood. Tony just hoped that this was his savior.


End file.
